Calling all Classical music fans

Hertz van Rental · Dec 17, 2005

BBC Radio 3 is celebrating J S Bach leading up to Christmas - playing every note he ever wrote 24/7 and ending on Christmas Day.
It's quite stunning to realise he wrote so much it would take a whole week to play it all.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/bach/
Top right corner is the BBC Radio Player. Allows you to play all BBC Radio programs (up to a week after broadcast) on your desktop. And it's FREE.
Enjoy

LaFoto · Dec 17, 2005

WOW!
THAT is something!
And yes, that man wrote music and music and music and music and music!
Every Sunday had some new music!
(He also sometimes copied one piece into another, but well..........)

danalec99 · Dec 17, 2005

fantastic; thanks!

Matty-Bass · Dec 17, 2005

awesome! I shall be listening to some Bach soon!

Hertz van Rental · Dec 18, 2005

Just a cheeky bump.

LaFoto · Dec 18, 2005

Listening to it uses up personal bandwidth, though, doesn't it?
Or whatever it is called ... we get unlimited online time but only so and so many free whatever-bytes of download-thingy... erm (my computer knowledge fully transpires right now... ooops).
I was happily listening to some Bach on BBC3 yesterday afternoon when hubby came round asking if I was now using up our precious (10 MB!) download amount we are getting for free each month.
That burst my bubble of happiness.

<~~~ too weak: :grumpy:

!!!

yummifruitbat · Dec 18, 2005

Hertz, you're a legend! :hail:

The last few weeks I've been craving a bit of decent classical music to help me work (serious deadline chaos) but I'd left most of my CDs at home.

Work is now all finished and handed in (well, for the next fortnight anyway) but to celebrate I get to listen to a live recital of Toccata & Fugue in D Minor in half an hour

That's my favourite ever piece of organ music (and I'm gutted because I've lost my copy of the manuscript so I can't even play it to myself :grumpy:

)

Thanks for drawing my attention to what is probably one of the best ideas the BBC have had, well... ever!

yummifruitbat · Dec 18, 2005

OMG, they're playing the Stokowski version as a warmup!!!!! :hail: :hail: :hail:

duncanp · Dec 18, 2005

Wow, but please dont tell my dad

Hertz van Rental · Dec 18, 2005

LaFoto said:
Listening to it uses up personal bandwidth, though, doesn't it?

I don't know how much, I'm afraid. I'll have a look on the site - there's bound to be some tech info. I'm on broadband and so forget some people have restrictions.

There should be a program planner on the Bach section - there's a lot of other stuff including competitions.
They are going to be playing every note he wrote and appear to be selecting the best or most notable performances from across the whole history of music recording.
There's going to be a lot of gems and rarities.

If you have cable or satellite you might find a live feed. There is in the UK so you never know your luck in the rest of Europe.
And look at the last two paragraphs at the bottom of this page
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/bach/highlights.shtml
Not as good as eating Sushi on a desert island (nothing could match that) but certainly a high point for the year.

LaFoto · Dec 18, 2005

So this must be the Sonata in a minor BWV1003 with Jascha Heifetz on the violin right now...

yummifruitbat · Dec 18, 2005

I missed the intro (oops) but it's definitely in A Minor... this guy plays with a very aggressive attack, doesn't he

LaFoto · Dec 18, 2005

He does. He does, indeed!

I think I will go back again at 1 my time (12 British time) to listen to the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra and Choir under Ton Koopman!

Hertz van Rental · Dec 18, 2005

If you use the BBC Radio Player there is a list of all the previous programs for the week and you can listen to them again at any time.
Check the main pages for R3 as well. When they did Beethoven during the Summer they did some live concerts that were downloadable as MP3's.
I'm sure they will do the same for Bach.

Nice quote from an archive interview with Douglas Adams:
Mozart's music tells you what it's like to be alive.
Beethoven's what it's like to be Beethoven.
Bach's what it's like to be the Universe.